All-Star pitcher Miles Mikolas, Cardinals agree on multi-year extension: Sources
JUPITER, Fla. — A day after a teammate predicted that Miles Mikolas would finish top five in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award with the Cardinals this coming season, the All-Star right-hander finalized an agreement that will assure his next few seasons will also be with the Cardinals.
Mikolas, a two-time All-Star and Jupiter native, as has agreed to a two-year., $40-million contract extension with the Cardinals, sources told the Post-Dispatch.
An official announcement is expected Friday afternoon.
He is also set to be formally announced as the team’s opening day starter for March 30 at Busch Stadium against Toronto.
The new contract gives him a raise for the 2023 season as part of the guaranteed total.
Mikolas, 34, is coming off a silver medal turn with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. This past season, he was the only Cardinals pitcher to throw more than 200 innings, and he finished the year 9-10 with a 3.60 ERA. Mikolas has been an All-Star in two of his three full seasons with the Cardinals.
The Jupiter, Fla., native will be able to continue spring training a short drive from his home and a shorter drive from his boat.
On Thursday, veteran starter Adam Wainwright agreed with a reporter that Mikolas has been overlooked with the league and even underutilized for Team USA during the World Baseball classic. Wainwright predicted that Mikolas would finish in the top five for voting for the NL Cy Young Award because of his ability to shoulder innings and author quality starts.
Mikolas finished sixth in the Cy Young Award voting in 2018, his first year with the Cardinals and his first year back from reinventing his career with three seasons as a starter in Japan.
The Cardinals sought a contract extension with at least one starting pitcher this spring and believed that a deal with Mikolas was most likely. The team had only one of the five starting pitchers in the planned rotation under contract beyond the 2023 season. Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty, and Mikolas were all set to become free agents in November, and Wainwright has announced he’ll retire at the end of the 2023 season.
Lefty Steven Matz, signed as a free agent before the 2022 season, was the only starter under contract for coming seasons until the Mikolas’ extension.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Derrick Goold
@dgoold on Twitter
dgoold@post-dispatch.com
